


The Superhero School for the Gifted Ones

by orphan_account



Category: K-pop, SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: (after they turn 18 ofc), Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Friends to Enemies, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, Superheroes, Superpowers, Texting, but not in the first chapter lol, fire bender!mingyu, groupchats and texting, ice king!wonu, lowkey inspired by bnha??, minwon is not friends to enemies so dw :), telepath/mindreader!vernon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:00:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23358175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: What happens when you have the world’s most powerful seventeen-year-olds under one roof?
Relationships: Boo Seungkwan/Chwe Hansol | Vernon, Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Yoon Jeonghan, Jeon Wonwoo/Kim Mingyu, Wen Jun Hui | Jun/Xu Ming Hao | The8
Comments: 9
Kudos: 55





	1. And So It Begins

**Author's Note:**

> All of the boys are seventeen years old at the time the fic begins. Everyone is back from their school break and Mingyu is a late bloomer so he comes into the school a bit later. 
> 
> References you might need:  
> (Wonwoo’s ice transformation) https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EII_HkVVAAAi5da?format=jpg&name=small 
> 
> (Mingyu’s fire transformation) https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/SJT5MWevzlcGAwpiRQpQNET4XLYbKbNnDPy0jjl3PJMDNc3qAkX4jGj3bi62B1xzQsX-kuS-Lda3PFLpC44xOx8YnLztQ_lavg=w1600-nu-rj-l80

_Hero school_. 

Something you would only hear about in myths or legends along with their students who could bend metal, form storms with their hands, control minds, make things grow at will, shapeshift and many more. 

There wasn’t a lot you could do to ‘pick’ your power. Whatever ability your parents had, you fell along the same lineage of power—meaning their powers would get passed down through generations. Sometimes there would be instances of mutations that would increase the ability’s power immensely, making you a “Gifted One.” 

This superhero school was for those Gifted Ones. The government sought to, what they called, “supervise” those with special mutated abilities at a young age so they could prepare them to work as Task Force Agents, defeating evil as young as seventeen years old, and building this facility to house them and teach them how to control their powers. 

Mingyu didn’t think this way, of course. He thought all the government wanted to do was to keep all the Gifted Ones in one place so they could control the use of their powers. All the “teaching” was a façade to make them think they were truly using their powers at will, but they were actually at the hands of the government. What you could and couldn’t do with your powers was really up to the government. Nonetheless, he was a Gifted One, and as soon as his parents found out they reported it to the Blue House and off he went to The Superhero School for the Gifted Ones.

The bus ride there is uncomfortable. There’s a musty smell, gum stuck to the bottom of the seats, and profanity spray painted on the wall. The sound coming from the bus being made by the chattering students could also be confused with noises coming out of a jungle. Mingyu feels sorry for the kids who had any hearing-related abilities. 

“ _Boo_.” A boy appears out of thin air next to him, almost startling him out of his seat. 

“Wh-Jesus dude!” Mingyu frowns looking at said boy. 

“Did I scare you? Sorry.” 

_The boy did_ _ not _ _look sorry_. 

“My name’s Boo Seungkwan, yours?” 

Mingyu laughs drily. “Oh I get it.  _Boo_ Seungkwan—clever.” 

“Thanks,” Seungkwan says monotonously, “You’re the first to point that out.” 

Mingyu’s mouth makes an ‘o’  shape. This guy probably didn’t have many friends if he was truly the first to point that out. Either that, or he was horribly bad at being sarcastic. 

“Ayo’ Seungkwan!” 

Apparently it was the latter.

A group of four other boys follow after him, two landing on seats across from Mingyu while the other two hold onto the railing. 

“Jisoo’s throwing a party in a couple days and—“ The blond one with the sharp eyes says.

“—We got an invitation?” Seungkwan replies looking almost comically shocked.

The other boy nods back with a smile. 

“Well boys, you know what that means.”

All four of them look at each other and nod before exclaiming in unison;

“ _Noraebang time!_ ”

“N-norae what?” Mingyu asks feeling all heads turn to him instantly. 

“How do you not know what that means?” One of them, this one with disheveled grey hair and sharp features, asks him. “Are you from the country side?” 

“Actually yeah. It’s my first time visiting Seoul.” Mingyu nods, receiving an ‘ _oh_ ’ of acknowledgement from the boys.

“Well uh—what’s your name again?” Seungkwan asks.

“Kim Mingyu.”

“Well _Kim Mingyu_ ,” he continues, “this is my clique, my ‘compadres’, if you will, my posse—“

“—Just introduce us.”

Seungkwan glares at the boy and Mingyu can’t help but stifle a laugh. 

“This one here who so kindly interrupted me is Hansol, then there’s Chan, Soonyoung, and Seokmin.” 

Mingyu shifts in his seat. “So what are your abilities?”

“I can make things with my bare hands.” Chan says nonchalantly. 

“I can shapeshift,” Mingyu’s eyes light up, he had never seen a shapeshifter before, especially not one with enhanced power, “...into a tiger.” 

_Oh_. 

“Oh.”

“They call me Hoshi ‘cus of it.” The tiger shapeshifter says. 

“Only _you_ call yourself that,” Seokmin says, earning a laugh from the rest and a highfive from Seungkwan. “I can blow people away with my singing.”

“So you’re very good at singing?” Mingyu asks, looking amused.

“No,” He laughs, “I can _literally_ blow people away with my singing. The force of the sound waves from my voice pushes people out the way.” Seokmin declares almost too innocently for what he implied would happen if people were to get in his way. 

“That’s why we never invite him out to noraebang.” 

Seokmin pouts for a bit before sighing, “Well I guess you’re my noraebang replacement then, Mingyu.”

Mingyu looks back at the group staring at him. “I still have no idea what that means.”

* * *

The school is a large facility where most of it is built underground but where a portion of rooms were built above ground. It’s in a noncrowded area of Seoul with modern installations. Sleek aircraft designs, custom superhero suits galore, and thousands of students. Students are divided into classes A, B, C, or D based on how useful their ability was in combat. Unit A and B students have the most ‘useful’ abilities with A being the one with highest utility, and Unit C and D are considered the ‘side kicks’ with abilities that are powerful but not enough to stand in the front line of battle. 

When Mingyu walks into the school’s Main Office, he’s given a quick look up-and-down by a Task Officer before being tasked with a Unit A sticker. It turns out the presenting ability of said Task Officer is reading the person’s stats, an ability Mingyu never knew existed, but that he knows would come very handy in battle.

“So you guys are all Unit A?” Mingyu asks to the group of boys who are excitedly waiting for him outside the Main Office door. 

Seungkwan laughs heartily, “I can turn invisible and that’s about it. Not exactly ‘leader material’.” 

Seokmin follows soon after, “Yeah and although my ability’s pretty powerful, I’m at a disadvantage when it comes to the more quiet missions.”

“Consider yourself lucky, those quiet missions aren’t exactly _pleasant_ memories.” Seungkwan responds with a disgusted face. 

“We have to go to our classes now...” Seungkwan and Seokmin stand awkwardly, then look at each other. 

Seokmin whispers something to Seungkwan making him nod.

“Here,” He takes his phone out of his pocket and hands it to Mingyu who takes it reluctantly, “I know we literally just met but...I trust you enough to join our chaotic ass groupchat.”

Mingyu hears Chan dramatically gasping from the side. “Wait, it took me three whole weeks to get added why does he get added so quickly?!” 

Mingyu bites his lips to hide a smile that threatens to show on his face. 

“‘Cus he’s _way_ cooler than you.” Seungkwan replies casually and winks playfully at Mingyu who laughs this time. 

“Alright, we’re gonna go now.”

Seungkwan drags Seokmin and Soonyoung with him leaving Hansol, who’s assumedly scrolling through Twitter or Instagram and Chan who’s just standing there boring holes into Mingyu’s skull with his eyes.

Mingyu clears his throat and looks around. There are students already making their way to their dorms, some of them piggy back riding on the backs of their friends with some sort of flying or floating ability, speedsters, or those who can teleport. Mingyu can’t help but to gape at them and feels a tinge of jealousy at the fact that he still has to walk to his dorm. 

He hears Hansol sigh and turns to him. “Are you really jealous of being able to fly when you have enough heat force in your hands to _power up the sun_?” 

“Uh-“

Chan eyes Mingyu’s dumbfounded expression and shrugs, “He’s a telepath. Get used to it.”

Hansol scowls at the boy, “Hey I only use it in combat!” 

Both Mingyu and Chan turn their eyes to him, “...and other occasions.” He bites his lip and looks at the ground.

Mingyu laughs at him and pats his back, “No hard feelings. By the way,” He looks at the paper he was given by the main office, “I think we’re roomates.” 

“Oh fuck, really?” Hansol replies looking more concerned than anything. Mingyu’s smile drops from his face at his disappointment. 

“H-hey It’s not that!” Hansol shakes his hands infront of him, “It’s just that my room is _hella_ messy right now.” He looks at the ground again with a solemn expression. 

Chan jumps in from the side again. Mingyu’s starting to think this kid is just _way_ too enthusiastic. “You know what you should do? Since you have all that garbage thrown around everywhere, use Mingyu to help you burn it!” 

Mingyu’s eyes widen, “B-burn it?”

“Yeah it’s perfect!” 

Hansol looks back at Chan like he’s said the most preposterous thing he’s heard all his life. “You cannot be this stupid. You want Mingyu to get expelled on his first day?”

Chan furrows his brows. 

“He exerts as much heat as two suns. It’s definitely an ability not to be played with.” Mingyu hears a deep voice coming from behind him that makes him jump a bit. 

The man has his arms crossed and a sly grin crossing his face, along with a circular pair of glasses laying on the tip of his nose. He seems to be a teacher based on his name tag, and the way he carries himself. The name tag reads ‘ _Choi Seungcheol_.’

“Ah, you must be Kim Mingyu—our new student. I’m Seungcheol.” He puts his hand out for Mingyu to shake it. He has a strong grip (or atleast stronger than Mingyu’s which is to say something) and a wide smile. 

“I teach Advanced Ability Control here. I heard a lot about you.”

Mingyu’s cheeks feel warm from the attention. 

“Good things I hope?” Mingyu replies shyly earning a hearty laugh from the teacher. He looks young but his eyes form wrinkles at the edges when he smiles. His build is strong and his shoulders are wider than Mingyu’s. 

The teacher must’ve caught him staring because he clears his throat and says, “My ability is superstrength. Not exactly the coolest but it does let me lift up to 200 tons so I guess that’s something.” He shrugs his shoulders.

Mingyu’s jaw seems to almost hit the floor because Chan grabs it to close it shut again. 

“Our teacher couldn’t be more modest.” Another person, who Mingyu guesses is another teacher sneaks up to him and wraps his hand around Seungcheol’s waist. This one has silky blond hair up to his shoulders that is parted to the side. _He looks like an angel_ , Mingyu thinks, earning a snicker from Hansol who undoubtedly heard his thoughts. 

“Jeonghan, teacher of Mindness and Meditation, twenty-five, can manipulate time.” He lists like he’s reading off of his resumé and shakes Mingyu’s hands. 

Mingyu once again wonders how amazing it would be to have these powers and how they would be used in combat. He remembers his friend Jihoon back in his home town had superstrength too but nothing to this degree, and a manipulator of time? Mingyu can’t wrap his head around how tedious it would be to work with an ability like that. He knows only a limited few are gifted with it. 

“It’s nice to meet you. I hope I get to be in your classes.” Mingyu bows down respectfully. 

“Forget all the formalities—we’re cool.” Seungcheol winks, and Mingyu thinks he hears three girls scream in unison. 

“Hey,” Jeonghan points an accusatory finger at Seungcheol, “Don’t go winking at students now. People might get the wrong idea.”

Mingyu thinks they’re being serious but the two end up bursting in laughter.

“We’ll see you around, bye!” Jeonghan says, while the pair waves goodbye at the three of them. 

_Maybe this superhero stuff isn’t so bad_ , he thinks to himself. 

He thinks he hears Hansol mutter something under his breath but ignores it.

* * *

After a full day of introductions and an orientation, it’s time for the first day of classes. Mingyu would be lying if he said he wasn’t even a bit nervous. But he couldn’t let his nerves get the best of him, lest he embarrass himself infront of all those new faces and his newly-made friends. 

He looks at himself in the small mirror of the minuscule bathroom of his dorm, struggling to find the right adjustment for his shirt. 

“ _Tucked in. Not tucked in. Two buttons up. Wait—no—one button up—_ “ He rambles under his breath.

“How about none of the above.” Hansol says from where he’s leaning on the wall besides the open door. He’s wearing a gray beanie, a tie-dye shirt and denim shorts paired with some of those Balenciagas that everyone seemed to have but that Mingyu personally thinks are ugly. 

“Shit dude you scared me.” Mingyu thought he closed the door to the bathroom. 

Hansol shrugs. “Here,” He tosses Mingyua white sweatshirt. “Also, my Balenciagas aren’t ugly—you’re just uncultured.” 

Mingyu fights the urge to roll his eyes and starts to unbutton his shirt to pull the sweatshirt on. For some reason, he doesn’t feel self-conscious infront of Hansol at all, even if they just met a day ago. 

“You need to stop reading my thoughts so much. It’s kind of—“

“—Invasive? I know.” Hansol nods. “But there are two other telepaths on this floor and if I have access to your thoughts before them, they won’t get to look at whatever boring thoughts you’re having.” 

Mingyu stares back at the boy. 

“It’s one mindreader per head.” He says as if it’s the most obvious thing ever. 

“Right, so, you claimed ownership of my thoughts or something?” Mingyu says dumbfoundedly. He’s still not familiar with his own ability, much less the abilities of others. 

“Not solely. But once I’m in there, these other telepaths can’t get in. Consider this a token of our friendship. Think of me as your _Thought Protector_.” He looks blankly at Mingyu. 

“Uh—Thank you?”

Hansol hums and pats Mingyu’s back, “You’re welcome, buddy.”

When they make their way outside the door, he can obviously see two pairs of eyes glaring at Hansol. He feels a bit sorry for him, but also thankful that he’s protecting him from the other telepaths even if he only knows him a little bit. He finds Hansol trustworthy. 

“Jeez I didn’t know telepaths were this desperate to get into people’s heads.” He whispers at Hansol who looks back at him and scoffs. “Relax, it’s only part of our training. We can’t help seeing a new face—it’s like a competition. Whoever reads a person’s thoughts first wins. We do this every morning too, switching from person to person.” They both begin walking to the Training Hall for their first class. “Don’t worry, though. I’ll make sure to get into your head first every morning.”

Mingyu doesn’t know how he feels about people fighting over getting to read his thoughts, especially complete strangers. But he’s glad it’s someone like Hansol who didn’t seem like the type to really mind it. 

The Training Gym is on the top floor of the facility. It’s made of clear walls and a see-through roof giving the illusion of it being outside. The wall is made of the strongest protective shield with the strongest powers in mind as to avoid any damage made to the infrastructure of the facility. When Mingyu pushes past the doors, there are already students training. Some of them are stretching, others are meditating, while some others are watching quietly. Mingyu spots the teacher he met earlier and mentally pats himself on the back for being lucky enough to be assigned a laidback teacher. 

Seungcheol calls them over. “Hey boys. Glad you could make it Mingyu.” 

Mingyu nods and glances around the gymnasium, suddenly feeling a bit conscious. He feels a heavy hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, you’ll do fine. Here,” He calls over a boy who’s sitting talking to another boy in a language Mingyu can’t understand, the boy looks up and walks over. “Minghao can give you a little tour on how the arena works.”

The boy flashes a small smile. “You must be the new kid everyone’s talking about. I’m Xu Minghao, the illusionist of the school.” 

“ _Illu_ \- what?” Mingyu asks never having heard that word, earning a small giggle from the other boy.

“You’re cute.” 

Mingyu’s cheeks burn and he fights the urge to look down.

“Basically I make people see things that aren’t actually there.” Minghao says before gently placing two fingers on Mingyu’s forehead, “Tell me—what’s your favorite thing in the entire world.”

Mingyu looks at Minghao for a bit feeling oddly entranced by him. 

“Puppies, I guess.” 

The other boy gives him a small smile yet again. “ _Cute_.” Mingyu hears him mutter under his breath before his whole vision turns black.

At first, he starts to become a bit too anxious for his liking, but then a field of endless green comes into view. He hears a few small barks coming from behind him and feels two small lumps bump into him. To his surprise, when he turns around there are two Dalmatian puppies attempting to climb up his leg, and behind them, a crowd of a dozen more puppies running towards him. 

Mingyu laughs in joy attempts to pick a puppy up into his arms but is woken up bythe sudden realization that he’s living inside of Minghao’s illusion. His vision is cleared entirely and he finds himself back to reality, in the horrendously large gym. 

“Looks like you really do like puppies. You were laughing like a child.” The illusionist says, looking at him with a wide smile this time. 

His smile suddenly falls before he looks down at his feet with a saddened expression, “Unfortunately I only get to make happy illusions every once in a blue moon. When we’re fighting villains or training, I have to generate horrible nightmares or scenarios to trick people.” He sighs but looks up at Mingyu , a smile picking up on his features again. “But if we become friends, I can make more happy illusions for you.” 

Mingyu smiles. He likes how friendly everyone has been to him even if he doesn’t necessarily agree with the school keeping their powers under watch. But it feels like he truly did belong there and that people honestly cared, or atleast cared about making a good impression on him. 

Minghao begins to give Mingyu a tour of the sections in the gym and little by little it begins to feel a bit less intimidating and more comfortable. He would be spending his time in here quite a bit afterall so it was better to get used to his training area for the future. 

“Here we have our physical superpower students: _superstrength, durability, supersenses, regenerative abilities_ —“ The boy looks at Mingyu’s wide-eyed expression and laughs, “Don’t worry, I’ll explain. So—“

Mingyu feels a pair of eyes on him coming from the left side of the gym, not too far off from the section they were on now. He follows his line-of-sight and meets with said eyes blurring out Minghao’s voice in the background. The eyes belong to a boy a bit shorter than him, blue hair with bangs that almost reach his eyes, a slim figure and sharp clear blue eyes that pierce through him. He catches him staring but doesn’t turn away even while making what looks like a sword out of ice from his bare hands. 

“—Hey. Earth to Mingyu.” Minghao brings him back from his trance on the boy with the cold complex. “Were you paying attention to anything I was saying? What were you even loo-“ The words disappear from his mouth when he looks back at the boy Mingyu was transfixed by. 

Minghao‘s expression turns serious, “That’s Jeon Wonwoo. You don’t want to mess with him.” 

Mingyu sends him a confused expression, “ _What_?”

He turns his eyes back to said boy but now his expression is more calm, his blue hair has turned black and his eyes back to a dark brown but still sharp and cold. 

Minghao sighs and looks up at Mingyu. He whispers, “His parents were killed two years ago.” He licks his lips nervousness present on his features, “The government, the same people that brought us here, sent them on a mission alone to fight in Jeju but were killed on the way there. He thinks it’s the government’s fault and he obviously doesn’t like the school that much either.” 

Mingyu feels strangely guilty despite not knowing the kid and feels a sudden urge to want to talk or console him. 

“He hasn’t talked to anyone really since then, not even to the teachers.” 

It seems like Minghao read Mingyu’s thoughts much like Hansol did earlier, “He’s also one of the most powerful ones here so I suggest not getting in his way unless you want to turn into a snowman.” 

Minghao’s humor catches Mingyu offguard so he turns to him and raises his eyebrow.

“What? I don’t wanna ruin the mood. Plus,the _1v1_ battles are starting soon.”

“ _1v1_?” 

“Yup!” Minghao’s face turns from excited to worried, ” _Shit_...”

“Wh-what?” 

The other boy’s expression turns blank, “It’s Opposite Ability challenge day today.”

Mingyu, for the nth time, looks at Minghao with a confused expression.

“Every first Thursday of the month we have to challenge someone with an ability that’s the opposite of ours and you—“ Minghao’s voice shakes, “—You’re the first one to have a fire ability in this class.”

“I’m still not understanding—“

“Ok kids,” A loud but familiar voice booms around the room. When Mingyu turns around he finds Seungcheol holding a megaphone, “It’s time for our long awaited one on one battle!” 

The gym bursts in claps and cheers coming from all sections of the arena. 

“This time we’re doing, _drumroll please_ , the Opposite Ability challenge.” The area continues to shake with applauses and hooting from the students. Mingyu looks at Minghao who still has a blank expression on his face, “Hey are you alri—“

“Up to the floor we have first timer Kim Mingyu!” 

Mingyu turns his neck towards the teacher’s booming voice at a speed where even those with speed abilities would be shocked at. He points at himself dazedly, “ _Me_?” 

Seungcheol nods from the other side of the gym. As he walks to the center of the arena, where there are lines on the floor signaling where each competitor is supposed to stand, he looks back at Minghao who’s eyes are stuck to the floor. 

“Mingyu might be a first timer, but he’s sure to set the stage ablaze. With a power capable of forming heat of—not one—but _two_ suns,” the students gasp animatedly at the declaration and Mingyu can’t help but wonder if they’re all pretending to be shocked, “He is sure to fight anything and anyone that comes in his way! Now for our next contender, give it up for Jeon Wonwoo!”

At the mention of his name, there are no claps and cheers, but rather wide eyes and loud whispering. Mingyu spots Chan, Hansol, and Minghao all owning the same expressions: a mix of fear, confusion, and worry. 

“Jeon Wonwoo! The ice prince! Not only can he make anything you could possibly imagine out of ice,” Seungcheol yells enthusiastically, “He can fight off his more challenging foes with walls and shards of ice! Word to the wise Mingyu, the ice can be a bit sharp and slippery!” 

Mingyu cannot believe this is happening. Not on his first day of training—not ever. He may not know a lot about this guy Jeon Wonwoo, but he does know that if what Minghao told him is true then he‘s more than bound to embarrass himself infront of the entire class. And what a great first impression that would be. 

When the boy walks casually into the center of the battlefield, the gym suddenly goes silent. Nothing can be heard save for Mingyu’s own heart that feels like it’s going to come bursting out of his chest. Wonwoo is standing infront of him with a glint in his eye, and his stomach feels like it’s churning.

“ _Shit I’m in trouble_.” He grunts under his breath. 

The boy opposite him is turning his hands into fists as his body starts transforming starting from his head to his feet—his hair turns blue, his skin progressively turning pale, almost see-through; then those eyes that are looking straight at Mingyu’s soul making him feel exposed, changing into a clear glass light blue. He can see his energy surge through his body and Mingyu feels chills run through his body. The air around him starts turning chilly, and he sees the students around him—including Seungcheol—rubbing at their arms to create some warmth. 

Mingyu gulps. 

He needs to end this as quickly as possible unless he wants to live through this for another second. 

He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes, and starts relaxing his body. He might not be as experienced as Wonwoo, but he does know that calming his mind before any battle will give him better control over his powers. 

Mingyu feels a tingling sensation at the tips of his fingers, down to the tips of his toes, he feels that not-so-familiar and yet so-familiar warmth rising through his body in flames. His hair, he knows, has turned a vibrant red, his locks flying above his head. He senses the energy regurgitate through his body.

When he opens his eyes, he sees the boy infront of him with a shocked and amazed look on his face. The crowd around him is looking at his figure with their mouths wide open. The power courses through his veins and he can’t help but smirk at his confused counterpart, his confidence elevated after activating his power. 

“Begin!” Seungcheol yells.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu officially joins the group chat and finds out something unexpected.

“Begin” Seungcheol yells.

The stadium is dead quiet, students holding in their breaths awaiting the first move. 

Mingyu’s newfound confidence leads him to make that lead, taking advantage of the so-called “ice prince”’s state infront of him. 

He gathers the strength of the heat running through his body, and in a single motion he sends a ball of fire towards the boy. Wonwoo breaks free from his trance, sending the ball of fire back in the last second by building a wall of ice with his hands, right before the flames grazed his skin. 

Close call.

Mingyu grits his teeth. He _is_ good. He‘s able to defend himself even after being previously distracted. 

Wonwoo stands around before forming something that looks like the beginnings of an ice glacier with his fingers. Mingyu braces for impact—this one is sure to be a hard hitter. The glacier starts to build up into the clear ceiling of the gymnasium at a rapid speed with the movement of Wonwoo’s hands. The boy then tilts his wrists until it faces directly at Mingyu’s figure. He sees a small smirk forming on the boy’s face. That momentarily distracts him. 

He quickly sends a wash of flames towards the approaching ice glacier, melting everything into a pool of water below him. 

Wonwoo doesn’t fail to act and aims a sharp ice shard at Mingyu’s eye that he barely has time to diverge with a heated flame. A moment later there are dozens of small shards pointed at him flying through the air at a calculated speed. 

Mingyu hears Hansol yell “Watch out Mingyu!” before he manages to clear himself off of the inevitable blast of ice shards.

He dissolves the imminent object, manifesting about thirty percent of his power in one move. This handles the job fine, before Wonwoo starts to move a snow blizzard towards him. He strengthens the blizzard with the movement of his hands, speeding up gradually. 

Mingyu barely has time to register what is happening. The strong blizzard brushes at his skin, stinging him and slightly dimming his flames. He touches his graced lip that had just been marked by a wind of snow and breathes heavily, eyeing his opponent. 

_Now_ he’s angry. 

Mingyu starts developing a flame high and strong enough to knock out the blizzard. Wonwoo’s eyes widen at the spectacle. He hears murmuring in the background. 

“No one’s ever been able to fight that move off.”

Mingyu sends a devilish grin Wonwoo’s way before sending a full stream of fire headed his opponent’s way. He sees the boy struggling to fight it off with his own stream of chilly wind, but he doesn’t stop, the fire managing to move Wonwoo from his place on the floor. 

A final blow from Mingyu’s side sends Wonwoo tumbling back hard. His expression looking calloused and pained. 

When Mingyu finally puts his hands down, he’s panting, his heartbeat at full speed in his chest, and the flames around him blinding to the crowd.

Wonwoo’s ice character disappears as he goes back to his normal form. The chilly wind around him evaporates into the air in a breath. At the sound of a whistle, Mingyu’s features also transform back, his confidence still lingering. 

He walks towards where the other boy is sitting holding onto his bruised knee. 

He bends forward and reaches a hand out to Wonwoo with a breathless smile. 

“Hey. Good fight?” 

Wonwoo glares up at him, panting heavily. He slaps Mingyu’s hand away, gets up and runs away wordlessly. 

Mingyu watches the boy leave, feeling odd. 

The crowd emerges around Mingyu. Some students are looking at him in wonder, others are cheering, but most of them look at him with worried expressions. 

Seungcheol, however, is standing off to the side with a proud grin. He closes in on the crowd and pats Mingyu’s back. 

“Welcome to the team.” Seungcheol says with a sly smile. 

Mingyu smiles, but keeps glancing back at the door where Wonwoo made his exit. He has an odd feeling in his chest that he can’t quite decipher. He doesn’t know if it’s guilt, worry, or confusion.

Somehow this _win_ doesn’t feel like a win at all.

* * *

_**Mingyu** has entered the **SEVENTEEN TEEN TEEN** chat _

**Boohoo** : oh shit it’s you 

**Hoshi** : welcome~~~~~

**deekay** : don’t be rude seungkwan

**Boohoo** : read my name; i do not care 

**vernon** : damn

**deekay** : you’re literally the one who invited him but ok

**Minghao** : mingyu youre actually insane 

**Mingyu** : why? what happened? 

**Mingyu** : also...you’re in this chat?

**moonjun** : yea and so am i so stop flirting with my boyfriend

**Hoshi** : what 

**dino** : see guys?? i knew we couldn’t trust him he’s totally hitting on minghao!

**Boohoo** : ok can someone pls explain what on God’s green Earth is going on?

**Mingyu** : yea i’d like to know too please.

**moonjun** : well for one me and minghao are DATING 

**vernon** : *minghao and i

**Boohoo** : *minghao and i

**Boohoo** : gdi jinx 

**vernon** : JINX 

**Boohoo** : you know what 

**Boohoo** : fuck you

**moonjun** : and you also just beat The One Who Shall Not Be Named’s ass to a pulp

**Hoshi** : you WHAT??

**Boohoo** : holy shit 

**Mingyu** : who? wonwoo? 

**Mingyu** : i wouldn’t say that

**Minghao** : no you definitely did. 

**dino** : i’m not gonna lie that was kinda brutal

**vernon** : yea i almost fell sorry for the bastard 

**Mingyu** : sorry again who are you two?

**Boohoo** : lolll

**dino** : oh right 

**dino** : im lee chan

**vernon** : i’m your friendly neighborhood mind reader

**Mingyu** : ?

**vernon** : your whole ass roommate 

**Mingyu** : oh

**deekay** : yea i think you’re gonna fit in here just fine 

**Hoshi** : that’s what she said~~

**vernon** : you did not just make a ‘that’s what she said’ joke in 2020

**moonjun** : god this chat is a mess 

**Mingyu** : uh

**Mingyu** : was the fight really all that bad? 

**dino** : im gonna be honest here

**dino** : yes 

**vernon** : absolutely 

**moonjun** : it was horrible

**Minghao** : the worst 

**deekay** : you really fought wonwoo? 

**Mingyu** : i’m still not understanding what the big deal is 

**Boohoo** : oh jesus

**Minghao** : was my explanation not enough? 

**Mingyu** : i mean someone had to beat him eventually right? 

**deekay** : you WON????

**Boohoo** : yes we established that by “you beat wonwoo’s ass to a pulp” seokmin

**deekay** : :(

**Minghao** : anyways

**Minghao** : the point is that, sure, you won but you’re also the new guy

**Mingyu** : and...

**moonjun** : new guys aren’t supposed to win that easily

**Boohoo** : that’s true. especially against someone that powerful 

**Minghao** : he’s never lost a battle ever since we started training. he’s like

**Minghao** : untouchable

**vernon** : well.. Was 

**Minghao** : whatever

_**Hoshi** has started a private chat with **Mingyu** _

**Hoshi** : hey

**Mingyu** : um hi

**Hoshi** : i know you’re new here and everything but you look like the curious type so i’m just gonna say this straight forward to save you the shock 

**Hoshi** : it was my parents’s faults

**Hoshi** : they killed wonwoo’s parents 

**Mingyu** : what?

**Mingyu** : why would you tell me this? 

**Hoshi** : look i dont know i just 

**Hoshi** : its been eating me up not telling anyone 

**Hoshi** : i havent even told the guys and i dont think i ever will

**Mingyu** : does wonwoo know? 

**Mingyu** : more importantly.. why did your parents do it? 

**Hoshi** : no are you crazy 

**Hoshi** : i would never tell wonwoo. you saw how powerful he is right? 

**Mingyu** : yea...

**Hoshi** : everyone thinks it was the government’s fault when in reality my parents were so desperate for that number one spot 

**Hoshi** : and wonwoo’s parents just so happen to have had that number one spot at the time

**Mingyu** : number one spot?

**Hoshi** : yea as number one most powerful force task agents. everyone loved them

**Hoshi** : everyone including wonwoo

**Mingyu** : jeez 

**Mingyu** : does anyone else know? 

**Hoshi** : no.. just you

**Mingyu** : wait

**Mingyu** : can’t hansol read thoughts? he probably knows by now right? 

**Hoshi** : i try to avoid thinking about it around him but

**Hoshi** : if he does know he hasn’t said anything about it

**Hoshi** : or atleast i hope he hasn’t 

**Mingyu** : god

**Hoshi** : look i dont know if this is gonna change how you see me or help you officially decide if you wanna be friends or not but 

**Hoshi** : i just needed to tell somebody before it’s too late 

**Mingyu** : too late? 

_**Hoshi** has left the chat_

Mingyu didn’t know how to feel at that moment. He’s already been confused by how Wonwoo reacted earlier at the battle, but now he’s even more confused at Soonyoung’s revelation. And what does he mean by ‘too late’? The first day is already as confusing as it gets. 

It’s late at night and he’s laying on his bed in the dark dorm room he shares with Hansol, constantly rubbing at his eyes. He’s tired but can’t seem to fall asleep with all this overthinking going through his head like little ants crawling all over his cognition. 

He eyes the clock. It’s 2 am. His eyes still haven’t closed. He keeps on repeating Soonyoung’s words over in his head and recalling the battle he had with Wonwoo—the one he won and that’s changing everything all at once. 

_Maybe I shouldn’t have revealed my powers to my parents. Maybe I shouldn’t have come here._ His doubts are loud and clear in his tired mind. 

“Dude, your thoughts are so fucking loud I can hear them in my sleep.” Hansol grunts from his side of the bed with his eyes closed. 

Mingyu stumbles over his words. “I-uh. Sorry just had a long day today.”

“Mhm. And it’s only gonna get worse.” 

Mingyu glances at Hansol who still has his eyes closed.

“Really?” 

Hansol nods and makes another sound of approval. “Unfortunately you dug a hole way too deep for yourself and you can’t get out—or atleast not for long.”

Mingyu is beginning to think Hansol knows more than he’s leading on.  _Does_ he know the truth about Wonwoo’s parents? He wonders why he’s so insistent on being so vague about what he’s talking about. 

“Why is everyone here so ominous?” He murmurs under his breath, finally turning into himself for sleep. 

Hansol laughs. “I guess you could say there’s a lot more to this superhero school than meets the eye.”

Mingyu grunts. 

“You really can’t get any more ominous than that.”

“Look, you already beat the most powerful guy at this school as some _fresh meat_ on campus. You’re not walking away from this that easily.” Hansol states matter-of-factly, “And also, you know, that other thing.”

Mingyu opens his previously closed eyes. “What other thing?”

The other boy sighs ignoring his question. “We have some extremely sensitive information on our hands that we can’t just risk getting out or things could get ugly.” 

“What about the other telepaths?”

“They don’t care enough about it to dig deep into it. We’re also kind of, um, irrelevant.” 

Mingyu fights a laugh threatening to come out. 

“But not anymore since you joined. Now all eyes are on you—and that also means _us_.” Mingyu’s smile falls, all notion of a laugh gone. 

“Just be careful.”

* * *

“Holy Jesus Wonwoo are you ok?” 

Jisoo sees a desecrated boy standing infront of his dorm room, holding onto his bruised arm with the skin around his body burnt, steam still rising from it. He looks like he’d been running, out of breath. 

Jisoo pulls him into the dorm by the shoulder as gently as he can manage and eyes the hallway to his dorm side to side before closing the door. 

“Hey what the hell happened?” 

Wonwoo stumbles across to the wooden table set up besides the window and lands clumsily on the chair. He closes his eyes trying to catch his breath and holds on to his arms Jisoo watches his movements with wide eyes then approaches him, eyeing the state his friend is in. 

“You look like,” Jisoo pauses for a moment to glance at his figure, “burnt toast.” 

The injured boy glares up at him holding a tight grip on his arm. His breath a bit more leveled now. 

“Sorry.” Jisoo looks down. “I’ll get you some ointment—“

“— _Ointment_?” Wonwoo asks clenching his teeth, “You’re a Healer for fuck’s sake just your powers.”

The former scratches the back of his head and giggles, “Right. Sorry, I keep forgetting I can do that.”

He hovers his hands atop the burns on Wonwoo’s skin, his palms emitting tumultuous healing waves. He can hear Wonwoo sucking in his breath. 

“Do you wanna tell me what happened or?—“

“—Josh you know exactly what happened don’t try and play dumb now— _ow_!” 

Jisoo grimaces. “Sorry. Again.”

Wonwoo signals for him to stop and covers the burns himself with a thin layer of ice, sighing in relief. 

“You should’ve done that earlier.” Jisoo comments earning another glare back from Wonwoo. 

After he’s done catching his breath entirely he begins talking. 

“It was that new kid, Minghyun or whatever his name is—“

Jisoo scoffs. “ _Mingyu_. It’s _Kim Mingyu_ —you  _know_ his name is _Mingyu_ ” 

Wonwoo looks at him for a second before looking down at the table, fidgeting with his fingers. 

“He’s...” His voice becomes quiet, “ _strong_ ”. 

The room goes still for a few minutes save for the sound of the clock on the wall. The dorm room is quite clean for a room housing two seventeen-year-old boys with superpowers—and that’s thanks to Jisoo. 

Jisoo starts tapping his fingers on the wooden table, Wonwoo watching the movements with a blank expression. 

“So?” He says after a while. Wonwoo looks up at him and repeats it with an almost amused expression. 

“ _So?_ ”

Jisoo nods. 

Wonwoo sits up straighter on the chair. “You don’t think this poses a threat to us—“

“—Oh here we go again—“

“—To our safety?”’

“No.” Jisoo replies nonchalantly. He stares out at the window and takes a deep breath. “Not everyone is against you Wonwoo. Not everyone who is powerful has a secret vendetta against you either.” The boy starts walking around the small dorm with calculated steps and then abruptly comes to a stop. 

“That’s what my parents thought too.” 

* * *

After a whole week in hero school, Mingyu thinks he finally has time for a break. Until Seungkwan comes knocking on his dorm room at seven in the morning. 

“Breakfast?” He squeezes Mingyu’s hands with pleading eyes. 

Mingyu looks down at his current state of mostly undress and slaps Seungkwan’s hand away.

“It’s seven in the morning.”

“And?”

“It’s a Saturday.”

Seungkwan sighs. “I know this week has been hard for you but...” 

Mingyu raises an eyebrow. “-but?”

“Uh—“ The other boy tilts on his feet and shrugs. “Sorry. Not really good at the whole speech thing.”

Hansol comes out of the bathroom looking more kept than usual. Instead of his normal attire of his variations of different tie-dye shirts, he’s wearing a long grey overcoat made of wool, boots, his dark hair parted to the side. He looks like he came straight out of some coming-of-age young adult movie. 

“Wow dude, for once, you’re looking pretty decent.” Mingyu says. He looks down at himself once again and clears his throat at the silence that suddenly came between the two other boys infront of him. Seungkwan stands in the door with his mouth slightly agape, Hansol staring back awkwardly. 

They’re interrupted by another set of steps nearing the door. This person peaks their head into the room. It’s Soonyoung.

“Are we rea—jeez Mingyu please put on some clothes!” 

Mingyu doesn’t know what terms he and Soonyoung are on after the chat. But it seems like he’s going with the ‘pretend everything is normal and nothing’s changed’ acteven though it has. Mingyu, however, doesn’t know why things really needed to change. It’s not like he even knew Wonwoo enough to care about his personal life or what happened to his parents. It’s not like it’s his fault it happened either; so why is he feeling guilty for wanting to carry on a normal friendship with Soonyoung despite knowing what he knows. 

Hansol seems to pick up on this. 

“I’m gonna go on ahead with Seungkwan. When you’re done just meet us there.” He tells him. 

Mingyu thinks up a ‘ _thank you’_ hoping the telepath hears him. 

“Alright catch up with you later.”

He closes the door and Soonyoung is standing besides the shut door playing with his hands. 

“So.” He finally says after a beat.

“So...” Mingyu replies. They’re both standing still as if not to burst the bubble of tension around them, or break the ice.

Soonyoung takes a deep breath before beginning to speak.

“—Wait before you say anything,” Mingyu interrupts earning a perplexed look from Soonyoung, “Can I _please_ put some clothes on? I’m _freezing._ ”

The tiger shapeshifter blinks _once_ . _twice_. And then manages a crooked smile. 

“Of course.” 

“Thanks” he murmurs under his breath. 

“What was that about?” Seungkwan asks a quiet Hansol as they walk down the corridor to the hall where the travel cars are. They’re allowed to go out every weekend as long as they come back by curfew time. 

“What was what?” 

Seungkwan stops walking suddenly and looks the other boy dead in the eye. “You’re hiding something.”

“Hiding what?” 

“I don’t know.”

Hansol continues his steps leaving a pondering Seungkwan behind. 

“You _are_ going to tell me, right?” 

The mind reader pretends to ignore Seungkwan and Seungkwan follows behind. 

“We’re _friends_ Hansol please tell me.”

Hansol stops, completely this time, closing his eyes and sighing, then he turns around to meet eye level with the curious boy. 

The hall is quiet at this hour save for the few early risers (which Hansol wasn’t, but because he knew Seungkwan would be coming over he actually woke up early). 

“I can’t.”

Seungkwan looks at Hansol with the expression he uses that he knows never fails when he wants to get something. Hansol fights the urge to laugh because he is so weak for the boy but doesn’t know it. 

“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.” He turns and continues walking towards the cars.

“ _Hansol Vernon Chwe_ ” He annunciates every syllable in his name. His hands are turned into fists besides him as if he’s about to throw a tantrum and his cheeks are puffed. “You’re a horrible liar.”

Once Mingyu’s done dressing he faces Soonyoung again who busied himself with some phone games.

“I think we should, you know...” Mingyu wriggles his arms around in the air.

“Yeah, we should.” 

Mingyu sits on the edge of the bed and watches Soonyoung who stares at him back, motionless. He senses the other might be nervous considering how much he’s biting his own lip at certain intervals. Mingyu flashes one of _those smiles_ that people have told him are known for making them feel at home. 

“Chill. It’s just us two. We can talk.” He says reassuringly. He suddenly feels like a therapist comforting his patient. Except that his patient revealed some information to him that possibly put his life in danger and the life of the people around him. 

“Well, first, let’s start from the very beginning.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like Mingyu just found out some pretty important info very early on that’s completely necessary for plot development! LOL  
> We also have Wonwoo finally speaking (albeit very shortly) and Jisoo gets introduced. Also, remember that party he was hosting? *wink* Guess who’s invited? ;) 
> 
> Thank you for reading! I’ll try not to deliver crappy chapters but they will have a lot more dialogue even though I’m trying to make it as descriptive as possible.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello fellow reader!
> 
> I am SO excited to share this fic that I’ve been working on and I can’t wait for you to see what I have planned for it. I’m sorry this first chapter was a bit long but I wanted to make sure I could get it to a point where I would atleast be able to introduce Wonwoo. 
> 
> I’m sorry if my writing isn’t perfect, I’m trying my best to make it flow as smoothly as possible but I am unfortunately writing this all on my phone’s note app. 
> 
> Once again, tysm for reading. Please stay tuned for more chapters! I’ll try to update regularly! :)


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